We report anisotropy of the upper critical field (Bc2) of an intercalated graphite superconductor YbC6 (Tc = 6.5 K) determined from angular dependent magnetoresistance measurements. Though the perpendicular coherence length is much longer than interlayer spacing, measured angular dependences of Bc2 are well fitted by the Lawrence-Doniach model or the Tinkham model, which are known to be applicable to quasi two-dimensional materials or thin films, rather than the effective mass model. This observation is similar to the measurements for the other intercalated graphite superconductor, CaC6, by Jobiliong et al. [E. Jobiliong, H.D. Zhou, J.A. Janik, Y.-J. Jo, L. Balicas, J.S. Brooks, C.R. Wiebe, Phys. Rev. B 76 (2007) 31 052511]. A possible explanation for the unexpected applicability of these models is that our YbC6 samples are synthesized as thin flakes in the host graphite.
In their comment Calandra \textit{et al} \cite{Calandra}, assert two points: (1) the estimate of charge transfer from Li to graphene layers in LiC$_6$ in our letter \cite{Pan2011c} is incorrect because of the three dimensional (3D) character of the electronic structure in bulk LiC$_6$; (2) our main claim that the superconductivity in graphite intercalation compounds (GICs) is graphene-sheet-driven is therefore invalid.
We have performed photoemission studies of the electronic structure in LiC$_6$ and KC$_8$, a non-superconducting and a superconducting graphite intercalation compound, respectively. We have found that the charge transfer from the intercalant layers to graphene layers is larger in KC$_8$ than in LiC$_6$, opposite of what might be expected from their chemical composition. We have also measured the strength of the electron-phonon interaction on the graphene-derived Fermi surface to carbon derived phonons in both materials and found that it follows a universal trend where the coupling strength and…
On the basis of the model that was successfully applied to KC8, RbC8, and CsC8 in 1982, we have calculated the superconducting transition temperature Tc for CaC6 and YbC6 to find that the same model reproduces the observed Tc in those compounds as well, indicating that it is a standard model for superconductivity in the graphite intercalation compounds with Tc ranging over three orders of magnitude. Further enhancement of Tc well beyond 10 K is also predicted. The present method for calculating Tc from first principles is compared with that in the density functional theory for superconductors,…
The field of superconductivity in the class of materials known as graphite intercalation compounds has a history dating back to the 1960s. This paper recontextualizes the field in light of the discovery of superconductivity in CaC6 and YbC6 in 2005. In what follows, we outline the crystal structure and electronic structure of these and related compounds. We go on to experiments addressing the superconducting energy gap, lattice dynamics, pressure dependence, and how this relates to theoretical studies. The bulk of the evidence strongly supports a BCS superconducting state. However, important q…
Motivated by the recent discovery of superconductivity in Ca- and Yb-intercalated graphite (CaC$_{6}$ and YbC$_{6}$) and from the ongoing debate on the nature and role of the interlayer state in this class of compounds, in this work we critically study the electron-phonon properties of a simple model based on primitive graphite. We show that this model captures an essential feature of the electron-phonon properties of the Graphite Intercalation Compounds (GICs), namely, the existence of a strong dormant electron-phonon interaction between interlayer and $π^{\ast}$ electrons, for which we provi…
Graphite intercalation compounds (GICs) have a variety of functions due to their rich material variations, and thus,innovative methods for their synthesis are desired for practical applications. We have discovered that Na has a catalytic property that dramatically accelerates the formation of GICs. We demonstrate that LiC6n (n = 1, 2), KC8, KC12n (n = 2, 3, 4), and NaCx are synthesized simply by mixing alkali metals and graphite powder with Na at room temperature (~25 °C), and AEC6 (AE = Ca, Sr, Ba) are synthesized by heating Na-added reagents at 250 °C only for a few hours. The NaCx, formed b…
Based on the mechanism described by the authors in cond-mat/0109553, we predict that the compound C60/CHI3 will have Tc~140K, which would be the highest value obtained sofar for intercalated materials.
Motivated by recent experimental work, we use first-principles density functional theory methods to conduct an extensive search for low enthalpy structures of C$_6$Ca under pressure. As well as a range of buckled structures, which are energetically competitive over an intermediate range of pressures, we show that the high pressure system ($\gtrsim 18$ GPa) is unstable towards the formation of a novel class of layered structures, with the most stable compound involving carbon sheets containing five- and eight-membered rings. As well as discussing the energetics of the different classes of low e…
Intercalation of polyatomic molecules into a superconductor can drastically affect the properties of the compound. A mechanism leading to a large increase in Tc for such systems is proposed. It explains the recent remarkable observation of high Tc superconductivity in the hole-doped C60/CHX3 (X=Cl,Br) compounds and the large shift in their Tc upon Cl->Br substitution. The increase in Tc is due to contribution to the pairing arising from the interaction of electrons with the vibrational manifold of the molecule. The proposed mechanism opens up the possibility to observe a site-selective isotope…
The superconductivity and intercalation statein the lithium-and hexamethylenediamine (HMDA)-intercalated superconductor Li$_x$(C$_6$H$_{16}$N$_2$)$_y$Fe$_{2-z}$Se$_2$ have been investigated from powder x-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric and magnetic susceptibility measurements, changing the intercalation temperature, $T_i$, and the Li content, $x$. Both Li and HMDA have been co-intercalated stably up to $x$ = 2 roughly in the molar ratio of $x : y = 2 : 1$. In the case of $T_i$ = 45$^\circ$C, it has been found that both Li and HMDA are co-intercalated locally at the edge of FeSe crystals, in…
We review experimental results, from transport to magnetization measurements, on different graphite samples, from bulk oriented graphite, thin graphite films to transmission electron microscope lamellae, that indicate the existence of granular superconductivity at temperatures above 100 K. The accumulated evidence speaks for a localization of the superconducting phase(s) at certain interfaces embedded in semiconducting crystalline regions with Bernal stacking order.
Superconductivity in graphene has been highly sought after for its promise in various device applications and for general scientific interest. Ironically, the simple electronic structure of graphene, which is responsible for novel quantum phenomena, hinders the emergence of superconductivity. Theory predicts that doping the surface of the graphene effectively alters the electronic structure, thus promoting propensity towards Cooper pair instability. Here we report the emergence of superconductivity at 7.4 K in Li-intercalated few-layer-graphene (FLG). The absence of superconductivity in three-…
We report magnetization measurements performed on graphite--sulfur composites which demonstrate a clear superconducting behavior below the critical temperature T$_{c0}$ = 35 K. The Meissner-Ochsenfeld effect, screening supercurrents, and magnetization hysteresis loops characteristic of type-II superconductors were measured. The results indicate that the superconductivity occurs in a small sample fraction, possibly related to the sample surface.
Superconductivity with transition temperature $T_c=1.7$ K has been reported in bilayer graphene [1,2]. The main factors, which may shed light on the mechanism of the formation of this superconductivity, are the following. Superconductivity is observed in bilayer graphene, when the two layers are twisted, and the maximum of $T_c$ takes place at the "magic angle" of twist, at which the electronic band structure becomes nearly flat. The same factors have been suggested [3] to explain the experiments in graphite [4-8], which reported high-T superconductivity in highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (…
Within the BCS theory of superconductivity we calculate the superconducting gap at zero temperature for metallic hydrogen-graphene system in order to estimate the superconducting critical temperature of quasi two dimensional highly oriented pyrolytic graphite. The obtained results are given as a function of the hydrogen-induced density of carriers $n$ and their effective mass $m^\star$. The obtained gap shows a Maxwell-like distribution with a maximum of $\sim 60 $K at $n \sim 3 \times 10^{14} $cm$^{-2}$ and $m^\star/m = 1$. The theoretical results are discussed taking into account recent expe…
We have studied the magnetic response of two bulk highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) samples with different internal microstructure. For the sample with well defined interfaces, parallel to the graphene layers, the temperature and magnetic field hysteresis are similar to those found recently in water-treated graphite powders. The observed behavior indicates the existence of granular superconductivity above room temperature in agreement with previous reports in other graphite samples. The granular superconductivity behavior is observed only for fields normal to the embedded interfaces, w…
It has been reported that graphite hosts room temperature superconductivity. Here we provide new results that confirm these claims on different samples of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) and commercial flexible graphite gaskets (FGG). After subtraction of the intrinsic graphite diamagnetism, magnetization measurements show convoluted ferromagnetism and superconducting-like hysteresis loops. The ferromagnetism is deconvoluted by fitting with a sigmoidal function and subtracting it from the data. The obtained superconducting-like hysteresis loops are followed to the highest available t…
The mechanism of emergent bulk superconductivity in transition metal intercalated ZrTe3 is investigated by studying the effect of Ni doping on the band structure and charge density wave (CDW). The study reports theoretical and experimental results in the range of Ni0.01ZrTe3 to Ni0.05ZrTe3. In the highest doped samples bulk superconductivity with Tc < TCDW is observed, while TCDW is strongly reduced. Relativistic ab-initio calculations reveal Ni incorporation occurs preferentially through intercalation in the van-der-Waals gap. Analysis of the structural and elec- tronic effects of intercalati…
We theoretically investigate the possibility of achieving a superconducting state in transition-metal dichalcogenide bilayers through intercalation, a process previously and widely used to achieve metallization and superconducting states in novel superconductors. For the Ca-intercalated bilayers MoS$_2$ and WS$_2$, we find that the superconducting state is characterized by an electron-phonon coupling constant larger than $1.0$ and a superconducting critical temperature of $13.3$ and $9.3$ K, respectively. These results are superior to other predicted or experimentally observed two-dimensional …
Unique to certain unconventional superconductors is the coexistence of magnetism and superconductivity. We have previously found ferromagnetism and superconductivity in hydrogenated graphitic materials. Herein we present similar as well as completely new findings this time applicable to hydrogenated graphite foils. As the strength of the magnetic field is increased, the temperature-dependent magnetization shows several important transitions. From a Neel paramagnetic-antiferromagnetic transition, to a ferromagnetic superconductor state, to an orbital paramagnetic glass high-temperature supercon…
In this letter we report the discovery of superconductivity in the isostructural graphite intercalation compounds C6Yb and C6Ca, with transition temperatures of 6.5K and 11.5K respectively. A structural characterisation of these compounds shows them to be hexagonal layered systems in the same class as other graphite intercalates. If we assume that all the outer s-electrons are transferred from the intercalant to the graphite sheets, then the charge transfer in these compounds is comparable to other superconducting graphite intercalants such as C8K 1,2 . However, the superconducting transition …
In this letter, we report the discovery of superconductivity in Li3Ca2C6. Several graphite intercalation compounds (GICs) with electron donors, are well known as superconductors. It is probably not astonishing, since it is generally admitted that low dimensionality promotes high superconducting transition temperatures. Superconductivity is lacking in pristine graphite, but after charging the graphene planes by intercalation, its electronic properties change considerably and superconducting behaviour can appear. Li3Ca2C6 is a ternary GIC, for which the intercalated sheets are very thick and pol…
We have studied the transport properties of transmission electron microscope (TEM) lamellae obtained from a pyrolytic graphite sample of grade B (SPI-II) with electrical contacts at the edges of the graphene layers. The temperature, magnetic field, input current dependence of the resistance as well as the current-voltage characteristic curves are compatible with the existence of granular superconductivity below 5~K. TEM pictures of the studied lamellae reveal clear differences of the embedded interfaces to those existing in more ordered pyrolytic samples, which appear to be the origin for the …
We have observed possible superconductivity using standard resistance vs. temperature techniques in phosphorous ion implanted Highly Oriented Pyrolytic Graphite. The onset appears to be above 100 K and quenching by an applied magnetic field has been observed. The four initial boron implanted samples showed no signs of becoming superconductive whereas all four initial and eight subsequent samples that were implanted with phosphorous showed at least some sign of the existence of small amounts of the possibly superconducting phases. The observed onset temperature is dependent on both the number o…
We report measurements of the in-plane electrical resistivity $ρ$ and the thermal conductivity $κ$ of the intercalated graphite superconductor C$_6$Yb to temperatures as low as $T_c$/100. When a field is applied along the c-axis, the residual electronic linear term $κ_0/T$ evolves in an exponential manner for $H_{c1} < H < H_{c2}$. This activated behaviour establishes the order parameter as unambiguously s-wave, and rules out the possibility of multi-gap or unconventional superconductivity in this system.
In the last 43 years several hints were reported suggesting the existence of granular superconductivity above room temperature in different graphite-based systems. In this paper some of the results are reviewed, giving special attention to those obtained in water and n-heptane treated graphite powders, commercial and natural bulk graphite samples with different characteristics as well as transmission electron microscope (TEM) lamellae. The overall results indicate that superconducting regions exist and are localized at certain internal interfaces of the graphite structure. The existence of the…
The competition between superconductivity and other ground states of solids is one of the challenging topics in condensed matter physics. Apart from high-temperature superconductors [1,2] this interplay also plays a central role in the layered transition-metal dichalcogenides, where superconductivity is stabilized by suppressing charge-density-wave order to zero temperature by intercalation [3] or applied pressure [4-7]. 1T-TiSe$_2$ forms a prime example, featuring superconducting domes on intercalation as well as under applied pressure. Here, we present high energy-resolution inelastic x-ray …
We investigate the possibility of inducing superconductivity in a graphite layer by electronic correlation effects. We use a phenomenological microscopic Hamiltonian which includes nearest neighbor hopping and an interaction term which explicitly favors nearest neighbor spin-singlets through the well-known resonance valence bond (RVB) character of planar organic molecules. Treating this Hamiltonian in mean-field theory, allowing for bond-dependent variation of the RVB order parameter, we show that both s- and d-wave superconducting states are possible. The d-wave solution belongs to a two-dime…
Superconductivity in a doped topological insulator (TI) is a very interesting phenomenon and constitute a new finding of the modern day condensed matter physics. Here we have investigated the physical and transport properties of such an intercalated TI, namely, Bi$_2$Se$_3$ via a strong coupling route. The unique bandstructure of Bismuth Selenide with a dirac cone is strongly influenced with the intercalation by Silver (Ag) (Gold (Au) is included to compare and contrast) at high densities, along with novel structural effects, leading to the emergence of orbital selective metal insulator transi…
Superconducting characteristics such as the Meissner-Ochsenfeld state, screening supercurrents and hysteresis loops of type-II superconductors were observed from the temperature and magnetic field dependences of the magnetic moment, m(T, H), in graphite powders reacted with sulfur for temperatures below 9.0 K. The temperature dependence of the lower critical field Hc1(T) was determined and the zero-temperature penetration depth, lambda(0), was estimated (lambda (0) = 227 nm). The superconductivity was observed to be highly anisotropic and to coexist with a ferromagnetic state that has a Curie …
Superconductivity at 22.3 K in Compressed Sodium-intercalated Graphite
Center for High Pressure Science, State Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science and Technology, Yanshan University（燕山大学亚稳材料科学与国家重点实验室高压科学中心）；Hebei Key Laboratory of Microstructural Material Physics, School of Science, Yanshan University（燕山大学理学院河北省微观结构材料物理重点实验室）；Key Laboratory of Weak-Light Nonlinear Photonics, School of Physics, Nankai University（南开大学物理学院弱光非线性光子学重点实验室）
We predict that CaFeAs$_2$, a newly discovered iron-based high temperature (T$_c$) superconductor, is a staggered intercalation compound that integrates topological quantum spin hall (QSH) and superconductivity (SC). CaFeAs$_2$ has a structure with staggered CaAs and FeAs layers. While the FeAs layers are known to be responsible for high T$_c$ superconductivity, we show that with spin orbital coupling each CaAs layer is a $Z_{2}$ topologically nontrivial two-dimensional QSH insulator and the bulk is a 3-dimensional weak topological insulator. In the superconducting state, the edge states in th…
Layered platinum tellurium (PtTe2) was recently synthesized with controllable layer numbers down to a monolayer limit. Using ab initio calculations based on anisotropic Midgal-Eliashberg formalism, we show that by rubidium (Rb) intercalation, weak superconductivity in bilayer PtTe2 can be significantly boosted with superconducting Tc = 8 K in the presence of spin-orbit coupling (SOC). The intercalant on one hand mediates the interlayer coupling and serves as an electron donor, leading to large density of states at Fermi energy. On the other hand, it increases the mass-enhancement parameter wit…
We report the occurrence of superconductivity in polycrystalline samples of ZrTe3 at 5.2 K temperature at ambient pressure. The superconducting state coexists with the charge density wave (CDW) phase, which sets in at 63K. The intercalation of Cu or Ag, does not have any bearing on the superconducting transition temperature but suppresses the CDW state. The feature of CDW anomaly in these compounds is clearly seen in the DC magnetization data. Resistivity data is analysed to estimate the relative loss of carriers and reduction in the nested Fermi surface area upon CDW formation in the ZrTe3 an…
Bulk FeSe becomes superconducting below 9\,K, but the critical temperature (T$_{c}$) is enhanced almost universally by a factor of $\sim$4-5 when it is intercalated with alkali elements. How intercalation modifies the structure is known from in-situ X-ray and neutron scattering techniques, but why T$_{c}$ changes so dramatically is not known. Here we show that there is one-to-one correspondence between the enhancement in magnetic instabilities at certain $\bf q$ vectors and superconducting pairing vertex, even while the nuclear spin relaxation rate ${1}/{(T_{1}T)}$ may not reflect this enhance…
The out-of-plane intercalate phonons of superconducting YbC6 have been measured with inelastic x-ray scattering. Model fits to this data, and previously measured out-of-plane intercalate phonons in graphite intercalation compounds (GICs), reveal surprising trends with the superconducting transition temperature. These trends suggest that superconducting GICs should be viewed as electron-doped graphite.
We propose an explanation for the appearance of superconductivity at the interfaces of graphite with Bernal stacking order. A network of line defects with flat bands appears at the interfaces between two slightly twisted graphite structures. Due to the flat band the probability to find high temperature superconductivity at these quasi one-dimensional corridors is strongly enhanced. When the network of superconducting lines is dense it becomes effectively two-dimensional. The model provides an explanation for several reports on the observation of superconductivity up to room temperature in diff…
The recent discovery of high temperature superconductivity in a layered iron arsenide has led to an intensive search to optimize the superconducting properties of iron-based superconductors by changing the chemical composition of the spacer layer that is inserted between adjacent anionic iron arsenide layers. Until now, superconductivity has only been found in compounds with a cationic spacer layer consisting of metal ions: Li+, Na+, K+, Ba2+ or a PbO-type or perovskite-type oxide layer. Electronic doping is usually necessary to control the fine balance between antiferromagnetism and supercond…
Trying to dope graphite flakes we found that the magnetization of pure, several tens of micrometers grain size graphite powder and after a simple treatment with pure water shows clear and reproducible granular superconducting behavior with a critical temperature above 300K. The observed magnetic characteristics as a function of temperature, magnetic field and time, provide evidence for weakly coupled grains through Josephson interaction, revealing the existence of superconducting vortices.
We report discovery of bulk superconductivity in Ni0.05ZrTe3 at Tc = 3.1 K, obtained through Ni intercalation. Superconductivity coexists with charge density wave (CDW) state with TCDW = 41 K. When compared to parent material ZrTe3, filamentary superconducting transition is substantially increased whereas TCDW was suppressed. The analysis of superconducting state indicates that Ni0.05ZrTe3 is an intermediately coupled superconductor.
High resolution magnetoresistance data in highly oriented pyrolytic graphite thin samples manifest non-homogenous superconductivity with critical temperature $T_c \sim 25 $K. These data exhibit: i) hysteretic loops of resistance versus magnetic field similar to Josephson-coupled grains, ii) quantum Andreev's resonances and iii) absence of the Schubnikov-de Haas oscillations. The results indicate that graphite is a system with non-percolative superconducting domains immersed in a semiconducting-like matrix. As possible origin of the superconductivity in graphite we discuss interior-gap supercon…
Pd-intercalated ErTe$_3$ is studied as a model system to explore the effect of "intertwined" superconducting and charge density wave (CDW) orders. Despite the common wisdom that superconductivity emerges only when CDW is suppressed, we present data from STM and AC susceptibility measurements that show no direct competition between CDW order and superconductivity. Both coexist over most of the intercalation range, with uniform superconductivity over length scales that exceed the superconducting coherence length. This is despite persisting short-range CDW order and increased scattering from the …
We report a systematic study of anisotropy resistivity, magnetoresistance and Hall effect of Li0.32(NH3)yFe2Te1.2Se0.8 single crystals. When compared to the parent compound FeTe0.6Se0.4, the Li-NH3 intercalation not only increases the superconducting transition temperature, but also enhances the electronic anisotropy in both normal and superconducting states. Moreover, in contrast to the parent compound, the Hall coefficient RH becomes negative at low temperature, indicating electron-type carriers are dominant due to Li doping. On the other hand, the sign reverse of RH at high temperature and …
Strontium intercalation between van der Waals bonded layers of topological insulator Bi2Se3 is found to induce superconductivity with a maximum Tc of 2.9 K. Transport measurement on single crystal of optimally doped sample Sr0.1Bi2Se3 shows weak anisotropy (1.5) and upper critical field Hc2(0) equals to 2.1 T for magnetic field applied per-pendicular to c -axis of the sample. The Ginzburg-Landau coherence lengths are Xi-ab = 15.3 Å and Xi_c = 10.2 Å. The lower critical field and zero temperature penetration depth Lambda(0) are estimated to be 0.35 mT and 1550 nm respectively. Hall and Seebeck …
In 1986, a cuprate superconductor (Ba-La-Cu-O system) having a critical temperature which goes over the BCS limit (~30 K) was discovered and then a cuprate superconductor (Y-Ba-Cu-O system) with a critical temperature higher than 77 K was discovered. Furthermore, a Hg-based cuprate with a critical temperature of 133 K was found. The 133 K is still the highest critical temperature of conventional superconductors under atmospheric pressure. We have shown that materials obtained by bringing n-alkanes into contact with graphite are capable of conducting electricity with almost no energy loss at ro…
New intercalation superconductors of Li$_x$(C$_2$H$_8$N$_2$)$_y$TiSe$_2$ and Li$_x$(C$_6$H$_{16}$N$_2$)$_y$TiSe$_2$ with $T_{\rm c}$ = 4.2 K have successfully been synthesized via the co-intercalation of lithium and ethylenediamine or hexamethylenediamine into 1T-TiSe$_2$. Moreover, it has been found that both intercalation compounds of Li$_x$TiSe$_2$ and (C$_2$H$_8$N$_2$)$_y$TiSe$_2$ also show superconductivity with $T_{\rm c}$ = 2.4 K and 2.8 K, respectively. These results indicate that both the electron doping due to the intercalation of lithium and the expansion of the interlayer spacing b…
This article reviews recent results of magnetotransport and magnetization measurements performed on highly oriented pyrolitic graphite (HOPG) and single crystalline Kish graphite samples. Both metal-insulator and insulator-metal transitions driven by magnetic field applied perpendicular to the basal planes of graphite were found and discussed in the light of relevant theories. The results provide evidence for the existence of localized superconducting domains in HOPG even at room temperature, as well as an interplay between superconducting and ferromagnetic correlations. We also present experi…
Surface superconductivity in rhombohedral graphite is a robust phenomenon which can exist even when higher order hoppings between the layers lift the topological protection of the surface flat band and introduce a quadratic dispersion of electrons with a heavy effective mass. We show that for weak pairing interaction, the flat band character of the surface superconductivity transforms into a BCS-like relation with high critical temperature characterized by a higher coupling constant due to a much larger density of states than in the bulk. Our results offer an explanation for the recent finding…
Mo$X_2$ ($X$=S or Se) is a semiconductor family with two-dimensional structure. And a recent calculation predicted the superconductivity in electron doped MoS$_2$ monolayer. In this work, the electronic structure and lattice dynamics of Mo$X_2$ bilayers with monolayer Na intercalated, have been calculated. According to the electron-phonon interaction, it is predicted that these bilayers can be transformed from indirect-gap semiconductors to a superconductors by Na intercalation. More interestingly, the biaxial tensile strain can significantly enhance the superconducting temperature up to $\sim…
Although Sr3Ru2O7 has not been reported to exhibit superconductivity so far, ac susceptibility measurements revealed multiple superconducting transitions occurring in the Sr3Ru2O7 region cut from Sr3Ru2O7-Sr2RuO4 eutectic crystals. Based on various experimental results, some of us proposed the scenario in which Sr2RuO4 thin slabs with a few layers of the RuO2 plane are embedded in the Sr3Ru2O7 region as stacking faults and multiple superconducting transitions arise from the distribution of the slab thickness. To examine this scenario, we measured the resistivity along the ab plane (rho_ab) usi…
A recently reported transition in the electrical resistance of different natural graphite samples suggests the existence of superconductivity at room temperature. To check whether dissipationless electrical currents are responsible for the trapped magnetic flux inferred from electrical resistance measurements, we localized them using magnetic force microscopy on a natural graphite sample in remanent state after applying a magnetic field. The obtained evidence indicates that at room temperature a permanent current flows at the border of the trapped flux region. The current path vanishes at the …
First-principles calculations predicted monolayer blue phosphorus to be an alternative two-dimensional allotrope of phosphorus, like the recently discovered monolayer black phosphorus. Due to its unique crystalline and electronic structure, blue phosphorus may be a promising candidate as a BCS-superconductor after proper intercalation. In this study, using first-principles calculations, the favorable intercalation sites for some alkali metals and alkaline earths have been identified for Blue-P bilayer and the stacking configuration of bilayer is changed. Then the blue phosphorus bilayer transf…
Sulfur intercalated graphite composites with diamagnetic transitions at 6.7 K and 37 K are prepared. The magnetization hysteresis loops (MHL), Xray diffraction patterns, and resistance were measured. From the MHL, a slight superconducting like penetration process is observed at 15 K in low field region. The XRD shows no big difference from the mixture of graphite and sulfur indicating that the volume of the superconducting phase (if any) is very small. The temperature dependence of resistance shows a typical semiconducting behavior with a saturation in low temperature region. This saturation i…
